Kitsune no Tengu
by Sanguinary Toxicity
Summary: In the mythical land of Ashihara no Nakatsukuni, a young kyuubi no kitsune named Mito searches for her cousin, Kushina. Born and raised in the hidden realm of youkai, Mito has never ventured into the outside world. There she meets a kind-hearted youkai hunter by the name of Senju Hashirama and an enigmatic yet devilishly handsome tengu: Uchiha Madara. MadaMito/HashiMito


**Naruto (c) Masashi Kishimoto**

**Concept (c) FireEagleSpirit of DeviantArt**

* * *

_ Long ago in a mysterious land called Ashihara no Nakatsukuni, there was no division between the realms of gods, demons, men and monsters. They were watched over by a divine tree that pulsed with the spiritual life-blood of the universe. The gods stayed in the highest branches of the Divine Tree, while men, monsters and demons mingled at the base. The demons wanted to destroy the makings of the monsters and devour the flesh of men. Men feared both monsters and demons, and waged war with bot races. _

_ The struggle seemed endless and the aloof gods looked down upon the struggle with an uninterested eye. Then one day, a princess of men plucked a peach of the Divine Tree and ate it. The fruit gave her extraordinary powers and she used that power to stop the wars. _

_ When the gods felt the shift in cosmic energy, they stormed down from their lofty perch to glare at the young princess: "What are you doing, foolish mortal?" Amaterasu demanded, all the fury of the sun in her glower. _

_ "You ate the peach that was forbidden to mortals! Reserved only for the gods!" Susano'o bellowed. _

_ "Who are you?" Tsukiyumi asked softly, eyeing the girl. For she no longer looked mortal, her hair had turned white as new fallen snow, and her eyes glowed the color of fresh spilled blood, and two golden horns sprouted from her forehead and curved backwards. For now she was apart of demons, gods and monsters as well as the Race of Men. _

_ "My name is Ootsusuki Kaguya," the princess declared, holding the gods with her crimson gaze. "And I declare the Separation of the Realms!" Power burst forth from her, blasting the gods to the highest heavens into the Realm of Takagahara, the demons were sent to Jigoku while the restless dead were banished to Yomi. Men stayed upon Ashihara no Nakatsukuni, and the monsters... they were gifted with their own veiled realm, it was apart yet not apart of Ashihara no Nakatsukuni; thus the Race of Men called this realm..._

"...Toyoashihara no Nakatsukuni," Mito said, waving her tails to create the small illusion before her. Naruto frowned thoughtfully at the image of their own world before him, before he slapped a paw at it, dispelling the kitsune-magic.

"Is that why we are forbidden to venture beyond the forest?" Karin asked, looking up at Mito with eyes tinted red. "I mean, if our world is merely veiled from the Ashihara no Nakatsukuni... then we can go between the two very easily, right?"

"Yes, we can but we aren't allowed. After Ootsusuki Kaguya declared the Separation of the Realms, she also said that all were forbidden from crossing into a realm that wasn't theirs. Of course we all held to that law for a very long time, but every now and again we slip into the human world," Mito explained, curling her nine tails around her. "Especially when we gain more than three tails."

"Ha! Looks like you won't be leaving the Forest anytime soon, Naruto!" Karin teased. "I have five tails."

"Yeah well, I'm gonna be the greatest kistune ever! My name will go down in history! I will be the Emperor of Ashihara no Nakatsukuni! Just you watch!" Naruto declared.

"How? When all you'll ever amount to is being a three-tailed goof-ball," Karin giggled.

Naruto growled, bearing his fangs. "Well, I don't need to constantly have a leaf in my hair to stay in human form."

"That's because your father was human, dope." Karin replied lifting her head in a superior fashion. "I'm a full-blooded kitsune."

"Just because I'm half-kitsune doesn't mean I'm not better!" Naruto snapped, and nipped at Karin's foreleg. She yelped and snapped back at him, grabbing his scruff and shaking her head violently.

"Enough!" Mito shouted. "Both of you behave. Naruto, you are different because of your human blood, and you are right, you do have the potential to be better."

"See, I told ya I'm better!" Naruto stuck his tongue out at Karin, the vixen merely rolled her eyes.

"Mito-onee-san said _potential_ to be better. Not that you are, _baka_."

"Mito," a soft masculine voice broke in, causing Mito to look up before she could explain anything more to Karin and Naruto.

"Nagato... what brings you here?" she asked, staring at the seven-tailed fox.

He bowed his head before speaking, "Your father wishes to speak with you. I'll watch the young ones."

"I am not a kit that suckles at the teat anymore, Nagato!" Naruto shouted. "I can do magic, watch!" Naruto stood, legs akimbo and three fluffy tails held high, his entire body rigid. He growled and opened his mouth, only to belch a harmless little puff of flame. Karin rolled onto her back, pawing the air in her mirth, Nagato merely blinked and Mito hid her smile behind a tail.

"You need some work, Naruto," Nagato said.

"Yeah, a kitsune needs to belch giant balls of fire! Not whatever you did. We don't want those smelly tengu to ride us!"

"I'll get better!" Naruto shouted before pouncing on Karin. Mito pawed at the ground.

"Well... I hope you can handle them, Nagato-san. Though, you may want to call Kushina if Naruto gets too much of a handful."

"I'll keep that in mind," Nagato said before going over to deal with the two young kitsune.

* * *

Mito found her father in the heart of the Forest. He was a very old and powerful fox, his fur had turned to a pearly gold-white, yet his eyes still blazed with life. His nine tails were splayed behind him as he lounged on the great stone he sat on. "You know they say this place use to be where the Divine Tree was and where Princess Ootsusuki Kaguya divided the four races." Kurama said, looking down at his daughter. "It was a very long time ago, though. Nobody has ever found the tree's location. Many, even among youkai, believe it was a mere myth."

"What do you believe Father?" Mito asked, sitting before her imposing parent.

"I believe the story is true. The realms are divided, and though I have no wish to see them rejoined, I do believe we should cross between them. We must learn about men, for men still fear us, even though we no longer truly live among them," Kurama replied.

"I see," Mito nodded, "and what about the other youkai races?"

"We must learn about them too," Kurama nodded. "I have a special task for you, daughter," Kurama said.

"Oh? What is that?" Mito asked.

"I want you to venture out into the world of men and find Kushina."

"Kushina? She's missing?"

"Yes, I believe that fool that sired Naruto had finally trapped her, I want you to find her, free her and kill that fool."

"But... wouldn't that be breaking the Law of the Realms? We may meddle with mortals and their affairs but we are strictly forbidden from killing them." Mito pointed out with a twitch of her nine tails.

"We are forbidden from killing them directly, but if he were to say... have an unforeseeable accident that caused his untimely death, then we won't be breaking the Law of the Realms."

"Oh..." Mito nodded.

"Now," Kurama reared up onto his hind legs and plucked a single leaf from a nearby tree. "Once beyond our borders, weave this leaf into your hair and you can assume human form. Be warned though, if the leaf were to be removed from your body, you'll return to your original shape and all will know you to be a kitsune."

"I understand Father," Mito said as she took the leaf. "I'll leave right away," she nodded.

"Good luck daughter," Kurama said as he settled back onto his stone.

* * *

Mito glanced at the moon as she walked, she could feel the fluctuating energies. "So... you're leaving, huh?" a small voice asked. Mito stopped to see Naruto standing near a tree.

"I told you she was!" Karin hissed suddenly materializing out of the darkness. "But did you listen? No!"

"Don't get Nee-chan, please don't go," Naruto dropped to his belly and crawled towards her, "I'll be good and not pull pranks on Karin. And I'll listen to your history lessons and practice more... just don't go!" Naruto whined.

"I'm sorry Naruto, but I must go. I need to find you mother," Mito walked up to the little fox and licked his head, "be good and mind Nagato. Don't fight too much with Karin, cause she means well."

"Okay," Naruto said and shoved his little wet nose into the dirt, as Mito walked over to Karin.

"And you, watch out for him. You are older and wiser than he is, so keep him grounded," Mito said, nuzzling the younger vixen.

"I understand, Mito-sama..." Karin said. "You'll come back right?"

"Of course I'll come back!" Mito said. "It's not like I'm going to fall in love with a youkai-hunter or a tengu and be torn between my clan and my heart," Mito giggled. "I'll be back, I promise." And with that Mito bounded over the boarder between the Realm of Youkai and he Realm of Men.

* * *

**And so begins a new tale. This is an AU set in a mythical Japan. The names of the Realm of Men and the Realm of Youkai are traditional names used for Japan in Japanese folklore. Jigoku is 'hell' in Japanese and Yomi is the underworld, Takagahara is heaven. **

**A mature kitsune has nine tails. They are born with one tail and gain them in sets of two until they reach nine. All canon NAMED members of the Uzumaki clan are foxes. Nagato has seven, Karin has five, Naruto has three, while Mito and Kushina both have nine. Since Mito, Kushina and Naruto all have been jinchuuriki for Kurama, he is the leader of the Uzumaki clan in the story. Kurama is a very old fox, as seen by his pearly white-gold coat and the fact he has nine tails. **

**This is a fantasy story, so there will be magic. I will limit the use of Japanese because I feel it sounds really dorky, unless I feel the situation calls for it. I will use family names (like oniisan/oneesan), hime, and honorific suffixes and terms that I feel I can't translate properly into English (ie, youkai.)**

**Enjoy, R'n'R. **

**Sanguinary Toxicity**


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